by David P. Greisman

Amir Khan says his planned move to the welterweight division will not only make him stronger offensively, but will shore up one of the defensive weaknesses that others have been able to exploit — a shaky chin.

Khan, who was in Atlantic City on May 17 to watch his younger brother Haroon fight, spoke very briefly with David P. Greisman of BoxingScene.com and Tim Starks of Queensberry-Rules.com.

“I kill myself making 140,” Khan said. “What happens is I can’t put the weight back on that quickly after I do. I only put six, seven pounds on. 147 will be the natural weight for me. I walk around naturally at 155. I knock my sparring partners down. I knock people out at that weight, but normally when I hit 140, my punching power goes. Maybe it’s because I’m killing myself making that weight.”

And he believes his punch resistance will be better when he doesn’t need to drop as many pounds.

“When you drain, it’s like fasting and then going into the fight,” Khan said. “In sparring, I’ve never been put down. I’ve sparred the likes of [Alfredo] Angulo and Manny Pacquiao. I’ve never been put down in sparring. It’s only in the fight. The reason is because I’m killing myself making weight. This will help big time.”

Khan’s last bout was an April fight with Julio Diaz. Khan came in at 142 pounds, got knocked down by Diaz in the fourth round and survived to win a close unanimous decision.

He is expected to return on Dec. 7. The former 140-pound titleholder is 28-3 with 19 knockouts.

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter @fightingwords2 or send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com